The parasitic caterpillars of Maculinea (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) need to be adopted and nursed by ants of the genus Myrmica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Each Maculinea species is locally associated with one or a few main and often several secondary host species. To determine whether the parasite-host associations bear marks of cophylogenetic constraints, we reconstructed phylogenies of Maculinea and Myrmica using DNA sequence data. We searched for evidence of cospeciation with a tree-independent (ParaFit) and tree-based (TreeFitter) method. This did not reveal any indication of phylogenetic host tracking in Maculinea. This agrees with earlier insights, which emphasise that as most of the potential host ant populations are never infested by Maculinea, the selective pressure of the butterflies on Myrmica is likely to be slight. Each Maculinea species also specialises on one or a few host plant species before adoption by ants. We suggest that Maculinea species have a substantial potential to accommodate evolutionarily to geographically changing ranges of potential Myrmica hosts, available at the oviposition sites of the butterflies. We use recently published evidence on geographically varying host ant species to discuss a suite of plausible scenarios of adaptive shifts to new Myrmica host species. and Gunther Jansen, Kari Vepsäläinen, Riitta Savolainen.
According to the Oxford English Dictonary George Berkeley introduced the term a priori into English. His inspiration for this was, it seems, to be found partly in the writings of his immediate predecessors, particularly Pierre Bayle, and partly in his pedagogical work where he adjudicated disputations between his pupils. Some of his arguments against the existence of matter Berkeley tells us are a priori, others a posteriori. Even the a priori arguments are underpinned by prior semantic principles of an anti-abstractionist character, which are shown to be important particularly in the immaterialist philosophy of mathematics. Berkeley's courageously unorthodox, and generally unpublished, thoughts about mathematics thus grow from the same soil as his celebrated denial of matter., Marek Tomeček., and Obsahuje poznámky a bibliografii
Invertebrate diversity has rapidly declined throughout Europe during the last century. Various reasons for this decrease have been proposed including human induced factors like climate change. Temperature changes alter distributions and occurrences of butterflies by determining habitat conditions at different scales. We evaluated changes in the composition of butterfly communities recorded at nine areas of fallow ground in south-western Germany in 1973, 1986, 2010 and 2012 using Pollard’s transect technique. To demonstrate the importance of climatic changes in affecting butterfly communities, we calculated the community temperature index (CTI) for each butterfly community in each year. Although they increased slightly, the CTI-values did not match the temperature trends recorded in the study region. However, the reduction in the standard deviations of the CTIs over time is reflected in the marked loss of cold- and warm-adapted species due to their inability to cope with temperature and land-use induced habitat changes. Results of our butterfly surveys indicate a marked decline in species richness and striking changes in the composition of the butterfly communities studied. This trend was most pronounced for habitat specialists, thus mirroring a depletion in trait diversity. Our results indicate that, in the course of large-scale anthropogenic changes, habitat degradation at smaller scales will continuously lead to the replacement of habitat specialists by ubiquitous species., Katharina J. Filz ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The International Journal for Experimental Botany was founded in 1959 by Professor Bohumil Němec. The journal covers all branches of experimental botany ranging from molecular biology and biotechnology to whole-plant and stand functioning. and Jan Krekule.
Cílem studie bylo posouzení přítomnosti depresivní symptomatologie u dětí po léčbě nádorového onemocnění. Soubor tvořilo 91 bývalých dětských onkologických pacientů (47 dívek) ve věku 9 - 19 let. Vyšetření depresivity bylo provedeno v rozmezí dvou až pěti let od ukončení léčby v rámci monitorování pozdních následků léčby a kvality života bývalých dětských onkologických pacientů. Výsledky byly porovnány s kontrolní skupinou dětských pacientů s chronickým onemocněním a skupinou zdravých dětí. Vyšetření depresivity bylo provedeno prostřednictvím dotazníku CDI. Přínosem studie je srovnání skupin v rámci jednotlivých subškál dotazníku CDI (špatná nálada, interpersonální problémy, nevýkonnost, anhedonie, negativní sebehodnocení) za účelem přesnější identifikace okruhu případných problémů přeživších. Bývalí dětští onkologičtí pacienti mají významně nižší hodnoty depresivní symptomatologie v porovnání s oběma porovnávacími skupinami. Signifikantně nižší míra depresivity u dětí po léčbě onkologického onemocnění byla identifikována v oblastech špatná nálada, anhedonie a negativní sebehodnocení. Ve shodě se současnými výzkumnými poznatky nabízíme několik možných interpretací získaných výsledků., Objective. The purpose of this study was to explore symptoms of depression in childhood cancer survivors. Sample and setting. The study included 91 childhood cancer survivors (47 girls) aged 9-19. Depressiveness was measured by means of the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) within a period of two to five years after treatment completion while monitoring the late effects of oncological treatment and survivors’ quality of life. The data has been compared to a group of child patients with another chronic disease and a group of healthy children (comparison groups). Hypotheses. The aim of the study was to identify whether possible differences between the individual groups of respondents manifest themselves in some specific CDI subscales and thus help better identify possible complaints among the survivors. Statistical analysis. The sum scores for the whole CDI scale and its sub-scales were compared by factor analysis of variance. Results. Former oncological patients (study group) scored significantly lower in the CDI in comparison to both comparison groups, and the analysis of individual CDI subscales has established a significant difference between the study group and the two comparison groups in relation to the Negative Mood, Anhedonia and Negative Self-esteem subscales. The lowest depressiveness scores have been explored on the specified subscales for the cancer survivor group. Study limitation. The research has the usual limitations arising from the fact that a self-report method was used. CDI data should be verified using projective testing and an interview in future research., and Irena Komárková ... [et al.].
To understand the factors governing the diversity, abundance and host associations of parasitoids attacking frugivorous drosophilid flies on Iriomote-jima, a subtropical island of Japan, we monitored parasitism on several occasions over the period 2003–2009. Fifteen drosophilid and 12 parasitoid species were recorded. Three species of Drosophila, D. bipectinata, D. albomicans and D. takahashii, bred abundantly in banana baits, though their abundance varied between years and seasons. Frequent parasitoid species were Asobara japonica, A. pleuralis (Braconidae), Leptopilina ryukyuensis and L. pacifica (Figitidae). L. victoriae was recorded only in December 2003. In addition, host acceptance and host suitability of the four most frequently recorded parasitoid species were studied in the laboratory. Most parasitoid and drosophilid species showed species-specific associations with more than one antagonist species, suggesting that they have been subjected to complex coevolutionary interactions. In addition, host range of most of the parasitoid species included one of the three major Drosophila species, suggesting that the abundance of potential hosts is one of the factors determining the evolution of parasitoid host use., Biljan Novkovic ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Semi-natural habitats are key components of rural landscapes because they shelter a significant number of overwintering arthropods that are beneficial to agriculture. However, woodlots are semi-natural habitats with high patch-level heterogeneity and this aspect has been poorly studied. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of woodlot heterogeneity on overwintering ground beetles. Woodlot heterogeneity was characterized in terms of distance from the woodlot boundary and date of the most recent logging operation. We used emergence traps to quantify the population density of ground beetles that overwintered in the different parts of the woodlot. In woodlot edges the densities and species richness of ground beetles were significantly higher than in the rest of the woodlot. Ground beetles that are active in crop fields overwintered in the edges but not in the inner zone of the woodlot. Species assemblages of ground beetles overwintering in the edges were highly diverse. The date of the most recent logging operation did not explain the distribution of ground beetles that overwintered in the woodlot. Our results show that woodlots, and in particular their edges, are used as a winter shelter by ground beetles that spend part of their life in crops, which potentially favours biological control in adjacent crop fields. and Anthony Roume, Annie Ouin, Laurent Raison, Marc Deconchat.
Mezi významné aktivity Ústavu pro jazyk český AV ČR patří již od jeho vzniku služby veřejnosti. Jazyková poradna, jejíž provoz zaštiťuje oddělení jazykové kultury, je jediným bohemistickým pracovištěm v České republice, které poskytuje soustavné jazykové poradenství a jazykové expertizy nejrůznějším uživatelům českého jazyka. O radu může prostřednictvím internetových stránek nebo telefonické linky požádat každý. Na základě dotazů adresovaných jazykové poradně vydalo nyní Nakladatelství Academia dvě publikace: Akademickou příručku českého jazyka a dotisk knihy Jsme v češtině doma? and Markéta Pravdová.
Acrylamide (AA) is a highly reactive organic compound capable of polymerization to form polyacrylamide, which is commonly used throughout a variety of industries. Given its toxic effect on humans and animals, the last 20 years have seen an increased interest in research devoted to the AA. One of the main sources of AA is food. AA appears in heated food following the reaction between amino acids and reduced sugars. Large concentrations of AA can be found in popular staples such as coffee, bread or potato products. An average daily consumption of AA is between 0.3-2.0 μg/kg b.w. Inhalation of acrylamide is related with occupational exposure. AA delivered with food is metabolized in the liver by cytochrome P450. AA biotransformation and elimination result in formation of toxic glycidamide (GA). Both, AA and GA can be involved in the coupling reaction with the reduced glutathione (GSH) forming glutathione conjugates which are excreted with urine. Biotransformation of AA leads to the disturbance in the redox balance. Numerous research proved that AA and GA have significant influence on physiological functions including signal propagation in peripheral nerves, enzymatic and hormonal regulation, functions of muscles, reproduction etc. In addition AA and GA show neurotoxic, genotoxic and cancerogenic properties. In 1994, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified acrylamide as a potentially carcinogenic substance to human., M. Semla, Z. Goc, M. Martiniaková, R. Omelka, G. Formicki., and Obsahuje bibliografii